Yosemite Valley Trip: 7 Days of Awesome – Part I Day 1. – The Nutcrackers

Eileen Ringwald 1 Comment

A Trip Report: Yosemite National Park. May 2012 with Flashbacks to April 2011

This was the best Yosemite Valley trip ever. K, Michael and I all agreed when we finally said our goodbyes back home. Seven days in Yosemite are bound to have wonderful moments but even the little mistakes made turned out well, and sometimes made the trip better. I’m going to present the trip to you as a Drama in Three Parts (or roughly around that length, I’ll be covering seven days of Yosemite awesomeness but plan to condense a few of the days).

Part I. Day 1. – The Nutcrackers.

I’ve been on some part of “Nutcracker” five times now, the first four times happened back in April of 2011. This day I couldn’t keep thinking about all of them.

K, Michael and I arrived at the nearly empty Manure Pile Buttress parking area early in the morning of May 4th. Our plan was to do the popular classic, 5 pitch trad route, “Nutcracker” which had a few variations for its first pitch. As a party of three we couldn’t be picky on which one we started, we just needed to start as fast as we could and try to stay out of the way of other parties. Since K and I had done every start of “Nutcracker” in our guide book [Note: we have since discovered more], we figured we could handle whichever start had no one on it. Since there were only a few cars in the parking lot, we hoped that meant at least one of the starts was free.

The first time I got on “Nutcracker” was in April of 2011 during the Yosemite Tweetup and the 5.9 start variation had water dripping down on it. Fortunately the ribbon of wet was mostly not on the route and our friends had already gone up on this grey day without incident. K led it and I followed with a little bit of difficulty around the wet part, then I proceeded to lead the second pitch. The second pitch is much wider so it was easier to avoid wet spots and I had no problem with it.

We got as far as me cleaning the middle of the 3rd pitch before hail started bouncing off of my helmet. We ended up at the belay for the 4th pitch when we decided to single rope rappel down to the party a pitch below us who we had asked to wait for us. We all bailed down from there in the rain.

Michael asked if we were going to rack up at the car. We were, we still hadn’t seen any other climbers. Luck seemed to be with us so far. K and I had expected to find Manure Pile Buttress busy. Hopefully not as busy though as the third time we had tried Nutcracker…

“Which way did you go?” I asked K, eyeing the expanse between the 5.6 dihedral we had climbed up as the first pitch of “Nutcracker” and the ledge where the various second pitches of “Nutcracker” all met. It looked pretty thin. “I went higher,” K said. I examined that way. “If I fall from there it’d be a nasty pendulum swing into that rock.”

“Yeah it’s more dangerous for the follower.” I decided to stay low, it would still be a pendulum, but I liked the look of the end of the traverse better. After a few moves I managed to get my right hand on my goal, the crack which led to the top of the lieback start variation. K was just above that.

I took the second pitch, it was short and easy, it angled up the ramp that the 2nd pitch after the 5.9 variation eventually led to. What I found on the top of the 2nd pitch though was a crowded ledge. I built my anchor on the ramp a few feet above the large ledge, where 4 people were waiting. We hadn’t seen them from the base of the cliff.

Eventually there was a line of 9 climbers, with a party of two barely 8 feet above the ledge, stuck in the middle of the 3rd pitch. When a party of 3 wearing psychedelic colors came up but then bailed after the stuck party of 2 came down, they started a chain reaction of rappelling down. We must have been waiting for an hour or more on that ledge.

Michael, K and I hiked to the base of Nutcracker and found all of the starts free. K started up the 5.9, it wasn’t wet this time but quite dry though a pretty flower on the ledge below the crack stood as testimony that water had been there recently. I heard voices from the direction of the approach path. Ah, the anticipated line was going to start now, or maybe they’d take the other starts? But no, the party didn’t even look our way but seemed to be going straight to “After Six”. Which, coincidentally had been my very first trad lead ever in Yosemite Valley.

The start of the 5.9 variation for “Nutcracker” is a friction/small edges climb up to a small ledge before starting the meat of the pitch, a small diagonal finger/hand crack with slippery placements for the feet. K went up and Michael seconded, I was slated as third.

By the time I was starting the climb, a party of two had claimed their spot in line after us (after I overheard them discussing how the 5.8 start would be bad for a recovering shoulder). I was a little nervous since I was being watched, and was also cognizant that it’d be better for everyone if I climbed quickly. There is a trick to the crux of the crack start, you have to put your right foot out on a lighter colored ribbon on the rock of the right of the crack, it’s just a smear (and the rock is polished) but it gets you up. The rest of the moves must be done quickly (or at the very least as quick as you can when cleaning gear). By the time I was at the tree which marked the belay station for Pitch 2, I was breathing hard.

Pitch 2 was my pitch. I saw that the party behind us had already started up, so I took off with the rack. Since this was my third time leading it I knew what to expect. It’s a lovely slanting wide crack with parts of it turning into a dihedral interrupted by some rocks and trees. At times I was walking in the crack, other times I was stemming it or liebacking. I used the trees for pro. The crux is the top of the climb where the right side of the dihedral juts out, creating a small roof of sorts. I went up and over and proceeded to the wide ledge to make an anchor in an ideal spot for Pitch 3. There was no on on the ledge this time. However, I was belaying Michael up when the leader of the party behind us topped out instead. He had essentially soloed a lot of the route and said something about how our rope should be fine because his placements weren’t in the way. When his second came up, I think I heard him say something about how the leader had only placed 3 pieces.

We let that party pass us of course.

K leading the 3rd pitch of NutcrackerPitch 3 starts off with a step across to a crack. I once led this part and about 15 feet above it before I backed off, my lead head lost after having to wait while on the route for some climbers ahead of us. This time it was K on the sharp end and we had waited long enough for the party that passed us to be free from the belay station. K went up the zigzagging route, then Michael, then myself. As I cleaned the route I thought about how I had backed off before, the part I had backed away from (one which required liebacking) was not very hard, but it did require a moment of commitment, at least for me anyway, and back then it had been wet. I thought I could have handled it on this day, but it was good to be fast anyway in case of unexpected weather. K and I still had memories of our second attempt at “Nutcracker”…

“That was pretty tiring!” I said to K as I finished up cleaning the 5.8 lieback start. He agreed. We moved up the ramp to attain the large ledge which was the bottle neck of all the start variations. This was when we felt the first rain drops. It wasn’t supposed to rain today. The forecast called for rain every single day of our trip, but not today.

A party of two women joined us on the ledge, they had done the 5.6 start and had had trouble on the traverse. We conferred about the rain. “Well, we can wait a bit and see if it stops,” one of them said. We had a bite to eat while exchanging introductions. Then the rain started to dump harder. K and I were having flash backs to two days prior. We jointly decided to combine our two ropes and rappel down. When we all got to the ground we talked about trying again and said our goodbyes.

The rain didn’t stop all that day. All we heard in the Curry Village common room was, “It wasn’t supposed to rain!” Turns out folks had bailed off El Cap and many other routes that day. So much for the weather forecast.

The belay for the 4th pitch is a bit small for two people to stay at. K took this pitch, I was on belay, and Michael had to literally hang out. Pitch 4 has a lot of friction and the leader disappears from view very quickly since the first moves take you around and over a small overhung area. As K went out of view I could only watch the rope for clues to his progress. By now, we spotted a party of two, no three, no four? below us. It seemed to me to be a while before K stopped climbing, when I followed him up I figured out why. The pitch has some fairly run out sections and then leads to a fist sized crack which goes up a small roof. A cam was stuck in there. K had warned me about it but I gave it one shot trying to clean it anyway. But, mindful that there was a party behind us, I moved on. After the roof there was still a bit more climbing to be done, involving some small cracks, edges and friction. I was fighting tremendous drag, it must have been what slowed K down. We should have extended the piece below the roof. I had clipped my tailing rope to it, not thinking I needed to extend it either. Eventually I got to the belay with a small ledge. K said he could’ve stopped a few feet below where we were but wanted to leave it for the other party in case they needed it.

Michael soon came up and then K was off again to do the famous mantle pitch. I can’t quite figure out how I would lead this within my comfort zone. Now the party behind us (turns out they were two parties of two) was right on our heels. The leader ending up building an anchor in the area K had passed up. Fortunately this was the last pitch. K did the mantle with no problem. I followed, ending up using a small crimper on the left of the dihedral to the mantle to get me high enough to make the mantle move. When Michael went through this section he said he just reached the hold for the mantle itself, but he’s a bit taller than I am.

Our party at the top of the NutcrackerWe topped out to a beautiful sunlit view which included Half Dome in the distance and seasonal waterfalls on the walls opposite ours. After a break on top for a high five from Michael, photos, a few friendly words with the first party behind us who were topping out, and a bit of a walk around, we headed down. We were pretty excited because we had finished in good time and felt we could check on our friends’ campsite to figure out where they were climbing today and hopefully meet up with them.

At the car K asked me, “You got the car key?”

“No,” I said with a smile in my voice; he’s tried this joke before.

But it wasn’t a joke. He didn’t have the key and I didn’t have my clicker. We were locked out.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Climbing Trips, Yosemite

Joshua Tree April Trip – Allergies and Heat? Move Like a Turtle, Eat Like a Winger

Eileen Ringwald 4 Comments

“I think I took the non-Non Drowsy allergy pills,” I said as my husband and I walked along looking for Future Games Rock in Joshua Tree National Park. The fact that I used a double negative should have alerted me at the time that my guess was correct. However, it wasn’t until I nearly fell asleep putting on my shoes was I really convinced that I had inadvertently sedated myself.

It had started because I had rolled down my window to take a photo of the windmills on the way to JTree. I had done that, got the shot, and then promptly started sneezing. My eyes started tearing up as well before the window had even sealed shut once again.

View near our campsite in Jumbo Rocks
View near our campsite in Jumbo Rocks

My allergies continued to bug me as we drove into the park and met up with Charlie and Diane Winger (authors of the fabulous guidebook, “The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree: 60 Favorite Climbs from 5.5 to 5.9“), met a group of their friends, and found a campsite in Jumbo Rocks. The allergies abated a little bit as the sun set so I did at least get to enjoy a short photo walk and the company of the Wingers and their friends around camp. I had originally “met” Diane when she first posted on the first iteration of the Rockgrrl.com forums, and then soon found ourselves chatting on Twitter as well before meeting and climbing for the first time last year in Joshua Tree.

Friday morning after a pancake breakfast Charlie and Diane cooked for everyone [and I added an allergy pill to my consumables] K and I set off to find climbs the Wingers had recommended called “Continuum” and “Invisibility Lessons”, ones we had not done before, so it was pretty fun to go to a new-to-us formation called Future Games Rock. There was no one around in the parking area when we arrived. It was pretty hot, the high was in the 90’s, and probably felt hotter than usual to K and I since it’d been awhile since we’d been doing any hot weather climbing. The wall we searched for was in the shade though, and turned out to be quite fun until the sun started to shine on it. Once that happened, we just weren’t feeling it so much. K had a tough time with a cam he’d set as part of an anchor he had set up for us to fool around on some other routes on the wall. When I came up to investigate (I got it out with a bit of finessing) I felt the full heat of the sun. I’d already experienced the drowsy putting on of rock shoes, so, when we got back to camp, supposedly just for a late lunch break, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that I ended up dozing off while sitting in a camp chair positioned in the meager shade from the lifted trunk of our car, or that K did the same after his one “lunch” beer.

We feasted on great food
We feasted on great food

I felt like quite the lazy climber when some of the Colorado crowd drove by our site and saw me still dozing in the chair, but I laughed it off. Sometimes you just don’t feel “on”, ya know? That night no one really roughed it though. Friends of the Wingers from California had arrived and apparently had brought a ton of food and generously shared it with everyone. There was salad, beans, garlic bread, and barbeque for all… and carrot cake for desert!

The next day K and I had been urged to find another climb we had not been to but was in the Winger’s book called “New Toy”, we chose it mainly because it would be in the shade, the temperature was even hotter than the other day. Diane and Charlie were going to meet us at the climb since they were striking camp and taking off for home due to a change in plans but wanted to see us before they left. Meanwhile though K and I set off to find the formation in the Stirrup Tanks area, following the directions in the trad book. On the dirt road to the parking area for this climb we spotted a tortoise in the road, which K easily avoided since we’d spotted it in advance. After some discussion, he put the car in reverse to go back to the turtle, which another vehicle had stopped for. Turns out it was a desert tortoise, a rare sighting of a species that used to be on the endangered list (it’s now listed as threatened). The group of guys in the truck took pictures and told us they planned to move him off of the road. I got some shots as well before they moved him. Then we all continued on, the turtle safely off of the road this time.

Desert Tortoise in Joshua Tree National Park
Desert Tortoise in Joshua Tree National Park

Turns out that group of guys was the only other group we saw out climbing that day. Charlie and Diane found us before we got to the base of “New Toy” and helpfully told us how we could throw our rope bag down a crack so we wouldn’t have to climb up to the belay again to retrieve it.

“New Toy” was fun and easy and the view was great. We were still pretty jazzed about seeing the tortoise when we topped out. I reflected that even though I’d been coming to Joshua Tree for many years, there was still something new to see.

Coming back to camp K and I contemplated the prediction we had heard of 120 degree weather for Sunday. K and I at first decided to spend the night and get one more climb in in the morning, but after some loud neighbors moved into the site next us, we decided to go home instead. We had the luxury of being close enough to Jtree to come again some other time.

It was an unusually short and hot Spring trip to Jtree but it still had its highlights. On the way to Josh we had stopped by the FiveTen Underground Outlet and K had gotten his early birthday presents (multiple pairs of climbing shoes); we got to meet up with Charlie and Diane again, and meet their fun friends; we had gotten to check out new-to-us climbing areas and climbs; had gotten to eat well; and, had seen a desert tortoise.

I can’t complain about that. Though, next time I’m making sure I bring the non-drowsy allergy stuff.

Climbing Trips, Joshua Tree, Trip Reports

Whale Watching Magic

Eileen Ringwald 2 Comments

Last Sunday I went whale watching for the second time in my life, I used a Groupon deal and invited an old roommate of mine out for a bit of adventure. My excuse to get her to come out this way was it was for her birthday (though her birthday was in November).

We set off from Channel Islands harbor, and immediately spotted some dolphins playing near the surf before we even got around the last breakwater.

After that, our captain decided to make for an area he normally doesn’t go to because he’d heard humpback whales were spotted there. We spent some time cruising along at a fairly brisk pace, fast enough that a group of kids at the bow let out some whoops and yelps each time we hit a swell.

My friend had applied a seasickness patch prior to the trip, during one swell I turned to her, “Just pretend you’re riding a horse!” She did fine, though it was probably more due to the patch than my advice.

For awhile we just saw the ocean, the distant islands and oil rigs through the morning haze, and seabirds. And then… we saw the whales. “Thar she blows!” someone shouted. Ok… no one really shouted that. But someone did point excitedly to get the captain’s attention. After a bit, the captain idled the engine and the magic started to happen. We had come upon two very curious humpback whales. They seemed to want to check us out as much as we wanted to look at them. They circled around our boat and even went under it. At one point, one was pretty much floating exactly perpendicular to our starboard side, and stuck part of its mouth out of the water.

A humpback whale says hello in rainbow language
A humpback whale says hello in rainbow language

Then the whales started spouting at us. So much so that those of us on the bow all ducked under the spray. It was hilarious fun… though I must say, whale’s breath is one of the less pleasant smells I’ve experienced. Don’t they have a baleen brush or something? When I got home and read about humpback whales, I learned that their breathing is voluntary, that they possibly only turn off part of their brain when they sleep because of this. So if they breathe voluntarily… were these whales purposely giving us a spray?

The whales stuck around for quite some time, though aside from that one moment I had with the whale which gave me a rainbow show, they were constantly in motion.

Finally they moved away. I was sad to see them go. Then, perhaps for one last show, they started breaching. First one and then the other breached as they made their way away from us. Our captain said, “You see this every day!” in a joking tone of voice. At one point, I heard him say as he was leaning out of his window with a camera, “I hope someone got this because I ran out of memory!”

We were late getting back into the harbor. But it was well worth it.

I’ve included a slideshow of my shots below, you can click on a photo to see it in my adventure photography gallery where you can view it larger and purchase prints.

General, Photography, Trip Reports, Ventura

Climbing Tips from a 2 Year Old’s Climbing Video

Eileen Ringwald 5 Comments

I have a 2 year old nephew (his birthday was a few days ago) who loves to climb on things. He scared my brother and my sister-in-law by climbing to the 2nd floor on the outside of the stair railing.  While this is a rather admirable feat for a then less than 2 year old, my brother and sister-in-law have been wondering when he’ll learn that sometimes height can equal hurt.

Here’s a video my brother sent me the other day:

My 2 year old nephew climbing from rockgrrl on Vimeo.

nephewclimbingIn the video my nephew:

1. Carefully places his feet. Great footwork is the foundation of climbing.

2. Finds out that if he doesn’t have a good foothold, he may not be stable enough to get the next hand hold. Climbing is a process, learning the sequence can be the key to a successful ascent.

3. Reasons that if it is not safe to continue*, it is sometimes better to down climb. Downclimbing is a valuable skill.

4. After downclimbing, takes a look at his route again. Analyzing your route is a good way to see if you can spot something to try next time.

5. Goes to get a hug after his climb from the camerawoman (his mom). Everyone needs a little encouragement sometimes.

*the word my nephew keeps saying is, “High!” this is what his mom tells him as a warning when he is too high or on something not really possible for him (for example, I noticed my sister-in-law tell him this when he was on some strangely shaped bars meant for big kids).

I can’t wait to see what other things I’ll learn from my nephew as he continues his climbing career!

PS – I wish they had climbing hold playthings in public parks when I was growing up!

Video

Five Ten CORE AWARD – Youth Gym Teams Can Win Money, Shoes and a Contract

Eileen Ringwald 2 Comments

I don’t qualify for this but I know at least one of my readers is on a youth competition team and some others have kids who are climbing. The application isn’t due until July of 2012, but you need to list your accomplishments “in the past year” so that’s a little more incentive to enter competitions starting now. Winners get $400, 2 pairs of shoes, a shirt and hat, and a one year contract on Team Five Ten. The prizes for runners up are pretty cool too.

This is probably the closest thing I’ve seen to a climbing “scholarship” 😉

Here’s the press info below:

Five Ten announces FIVE TEN CORE AWARD for youth gym teams.

Five Ten, the leader in high-friction footwear, announces the CORE AWARD ™.  The Five Ten CORE AWARD is designed to support athletes who embrace adventure and push their personal limits. This series focuses on aspiring young climbers.

Climbing is on the fast-track to become an Olympic sport, and Five Ten supports this future-generation of Olympians with the new Five Ten CORE Award™. Five Ten created the CORE AWARD to support love of adventure and pursuit of excellence: qualities that we know Five Ten climbers will bring to not only the Olympic Games, but all of the Worldʼs Greatest Sports.

To encourage young athletes to pursue their dreams, weʼve created five awards of $400 each to help with coaching, training or travel costs. Weʼll pick one first place winner from each of the 5 USA Youth Categories, and three runners-up in each category.

First place winners will receive $400, two pair of Five Ten shoes, team shirt and hat, plus a 1-year contract on Team Five Ten.

The three runners up in each category will receive two pair of shoes, T-shirt and a spot on the Five Ten Youth Development Team.

Five Ten CORE AWARD winners will be announced in August, 2012. All applications must be submitted by 15 July, 2012.

Athletes must be 19 years old or younger and have been competing in youth or junior categories.

In order to apply for the Award:

Application must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from Team Coach or athlete mentor.

Application must include a brief (250-300 word) essay on athleteʼs accomplishments in the past year.

Application must be accompanied by one photograph of the athlete, wearing Five Ten shoes or logoed apparel.

Application package must be submitted in complete form to: Nancy Bouchard, Five Ten Sponsorship Director, nancy.bouchard@fiveten.com. Please include CORE AWARD application in the subject line. Once submitted, all application materials are the property of Five Ten.

Application:

Climberʼs Name:

Date of Birth:

Address/Email/Contact Info:

Name of Gym where climber trains:

List 6 competition placements/athletic achievements in past 12 months.

Coach recommendation:  (Coaches may recommend up to 4 kids per team).

Essay by the applicant:  How Climbing Has Changed My Life (300-500 words).

Five Ten reserves all-rights to use application material.

Contests & Give-Aways

Outdoor Retail Summer Show 2011 – OR Show Highlights

Eileen Ringwald 0 Comments
OR Summer Show welcome banner
OR Summer Show welcome banner

In August I got to attend the Outdoor Retail show for the first time. The show is a convention for the Outdoor industry to show off their newest and/or up and coming products, it occurred from August 4-7 this year and attendance was approximately 25,000 retailers, exhibitors and media. The OR Show also happens to be a fun time for the industry to get together in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I left my schedule pretty much wide open for the show but I was also checking out the first ever Outdoor Photography Expo, put on by the same people and held in a hotel walking distance from the OR Show. Additionally, K and I were staying with friends of ours who we hadn’t seen in person in years so we wanted to spend time with them as well.

Rather than give you a blow by blow of the experience (which I can sum up by saying I had a blast at both shows, at the parties and with my friends) I thought I’d list some of the highlights and companies and products I checked out.

Outdoor Demo Day – Jordanelle Reservoir

The highlight of this day activity wise was trying stand up paddle board for the first time. While some may groan about SUP seemingly taking over the human powered water sports world, I have to say that after trying it, I can definitely see why. I found it challenging (though that could be a factor of the windy conditions I went out in) but also satisfying and pleasant. It reminded me of ocean kayaking but involved my whole body and demanded a lot of more from my sense of balance. Thanks to _ for providing SUP boards and instructors!

Going around the tents. I stopped by:

Chaco: they showed off some funky toe enclosing colorful shoes which were for water sports.

GoPro: they showed off a 3D camera set up (you enclose two GoPros into it and use software to process).
GoPro 3D Hero Video System

BugBand.net: You can read a bit about my experience with their product here (basically it works but not for very long, however it’s a natural alternative to deet).

Brooks-Range Mountaineering Orienteering Race: They provided a navigation class which I enjoyed, and they let us keep the map tool afterwards. It was supposed to be a race, but it was more for learning than for competition.

SweatyBands: Non slip headbands, they gave away product and I snagged an extra to giveaway to you guys! (watch for the upcoming give away post).

I also spent some time looking for my sunglasses which had slipped off of my head… luckily after some time I found them.

Convention Days

Tweetup – I had a great time meeting up with fellow Twitter folks even though I had forgotten my id and had to go back for it.

Honey Stinger – Loved their mint chocolate flavor

Klymit – I’ve heard about their Inertia X sleeping pads before but they’ve expanded their offerings and this was my first time seeing them in person. I have a review coming up on one of them. First impression made on the OR Show floor: they are thicker than I thought and comfortable. I’m amazed how small and light they pack up, even with the pump included.

Climbing Specific

Black Diamond's magnetic locking carabiner
Black Diamond's magnetic locking carabiner

Black Diamond – Sat down and talked to the magnetic carabiner engineer. This little guy comes out in Spring. My initial concerns about the magnet affecting a compass and grit sticking to the carabiner were put some what to rest. The magnet is only strong enough to affect a compass if it is right next to it. And should any grit stick to the magnet it is more easily cleaned than a normal locking carabiner (they buried the carabiners in dirt to test).

The action on the carabiner is pretty darn smooth I must admit. It is easy to open and close and the weight (another initial concern of mine) is not noticeably different than a normal locker. I am not sure if I’ll really like them in real usage, but I am more favorably inclined towards them than before, particularly since they do indeed seem less likely to get “sticky” from dirt like some of present older locking carabiners that I own.

Kong – Their alternative to the BigBro was demoed to me. It’s called the Gipsy and it looked pretty slick and can be

Kong crack gear
Kong crack gear

deployed one handed (so they said, I had a bit of trouble with it, though of course I didn’t have any practice time with it). I still found it quite intriguing though.

Five Ten Coyote Canvas shoe
Five Ten Coyote Canvas shoe

FiveTen – The new shoe coming in Spring of 2012 is a canvas version of the Coyote shoe. It’s washable. Maybe they read my stinky climbing shoes post? 😉 Other differences from the regular Coyote show is a lower ankle and slight padding.

Treadwall – This is just what it sounds like, a climbing wall that rotates. I climbed it a bit while at the Sierra Nevada party it was fun even though the motor wasn’t running so it just was being pulled down by my weight.

Me "leading" on a Treadwall
Me "leading" on a Treadwall

Other

80’s Dance Party by Teva – Just plain fun. Though a bit crowded.

Tweetup at the Red Door – Great to meet Twitter folks from #climb and from the outdoor industry. Unfortunately I had arrived late and many folks had already left.

Google+ Photographer Meetup – Had dinner with a few “strangers”. I’m finding Google+ pretty darn fun and already connected with some photographers in time to arrange this meetup.

Free Concert at Snowbird – This was not part of the ORShow or Outdoor Photography Expo but I went with my Utah friends. Quite cool to have a free outdoor concert in a pretty venue!

Outdoor Photography Expo – This deserves a separate post but I’ll at least mention it here… highlights were meeting Jimmy Chin, seeing some vendor stuff in person (for example the Spider holster system) and getting general inspiration. K won a free seat to the two day video workshop and learned a lot.

Saw Lynn Hill and Chris Sharma close enough to say “Hi” if I had known what to say (and I hadn’t been rushing around).

Photos and More

Be sure to check out my photos which tell more of the OR Show tale. There were a lot of vendors I didn’t mention in this quick write up but that you will see get a post of their own once my reviews are done on products I got from my Utah trip. Next time I go I’ll try and blog each day of the show so I can keep on top of it all!

Full set of photos from my OR Show trip (check out the high heeled bike commuter shoes!).

Climbing Trips, Gear, Utah

Gourmet Backpacking Trip – High Sierra Trip Report

Eileen Ringwald 2 Comments

It all started when I got an email from my friend Su:

Hey Eileen,
If you’re free on August 13-14 and can cook a gourmet meal in the wilderness, you might want to apply for a spot in this trip I’m going to with the Sierra Club…

My mind started spinning as she described dishes done on past trips. I also noted that the trip started off in an area just off Tioga Pass Road, just below the entrance to Tuolumne National Park, and included a summit of North Peak (Elevation 12,242 feet) via a 3rd class route in which the trip leader wanted everyone to bring a climbing helmet. I shot off my application email with some recipe ideas and, at my friend’s suggestion, an outdoor resume of sorts. I was hoping my climbing and photography abilities would make up for any lack in my proposed menu.

It must’ve worked because I got in. It was explained in my acceptance email that the 3rd class ascent was to be scrapped for an easier one and thus helmets were not going to be required. After a flurry of emails in which I saw the list of fellow group members, Su and I met the group for the first time in person early Saturday morning. As we walked up to a group of women and introduced ourselves one said, “Great, we’re all here, we can go, all the guys bailed.” I thought it was a joke at first. There was still at least 10 minutes left before the official departure time, and surely not all the guys had bailed? But no, it was true, of the 12 originally going on the trip, all four of the guys (including the trip leader who unfortunately had a family emergency) had not been able to make it, so it was to be an all female group, with another experienced Sierra Club backpacker taking on the lead role, with another gal as her second.

Hiking around Saddlebag Lake

Two of the group went off taking the water taxi through Saddlebag Lake (I later realized why they had opted to do this, they were carrying monster packs and more food than we were supposed to bring as well as surprise goodies), the rest of us hiked on the trail around the lake. The going was easy though it unexpectedly included a few areas where we had to cross snow fields. There was a lot of snow on the ground for August, the past snow season had been a heavy one and I guess made for a late spring, pushing everything back a few months, including the melting conditions. The result was a gorgeous, snowy and green hike along a full lake.

Once we were around Saddlebag Lake we were greeted with green meadows with wandering streamlets. The temperature was great, though I started to realize just why we had all been told to bring mosquito head nets. The first wrinkle of the day was in finding the two folks who had gone across on the water taxi. Apparently there was some vagueness on where base camp was to be set up.

We hiked on to Greenstone Lake and ended up going even farther and then searching for quite a while. The scenery was gorgeous, and while personally I had thought the hike in was a little short, I soon found we were adding in extra mileage looking around while still wearing our packs. Eventually a gal who was with us just for the day was the one to find the missing women, and camp was set.

North Peak soon beckoned so as a group we set out again. There was some concern about the amount of snow on the slopes, but we thought we might be able to find a clear way to the summit. It seemed while everyone had hiking poles no one had ice axes or crampons (these were not supposed to be necessary).

Unfortunately we had another setback, one person had forgotten something in camp, gone back to get it, but then… didn’t show up again. We were all confused, though we were not on a trail and on uneven terrain, we had only been yards away from camp. This turned into a search. Eventually the person was found, actually ahead of the group, closer to North Peak. After some discussion it was decided we’d leave North Peak for the next day and we had a little snack break of beet cupcakes instead. The beet cupcakes tasted like a cross between chocolate and red velvet cake. Delicious! After more hiking, most folks went back to camp and took a short nap. Su and I had driven late into the night on Friday, and others had done the same. The official name of the trip was Decadent Wilderness Weekend IX, so a decadent nap was right in line with that in my way of thinking.

Our camp was set up overlooking a small lake (our water source) and we could also see Greenstone Lake, which we had passed hiking in. After nap time, many of us pumped water and then it was time to start cooking.

Modeling mosquito nets during the Beet Cupcakes break, that's me in the bottom left corner. North Peak is behind us on the left.

The menu for the trip had been kept secret, per the original leader’s instructions. Only he had known in general what things folks were bringing. The requirements had also changed a week leading up to the trip. We were to bring an appetizer, an entree, and a beverage to feed two people, three if you were making a breakfast item. I had a breakfast item so was not cooking that evening. I did break out my beverage offering… hot chocolate with Bailey’s Irish Cream, but the late afternoon temperature was still too hot for it, and folks mentioned it’d be better at the end of the evening. So I mainly assisted, took photos, and tried to stay away from the many mosquitoes. I was glad for my mosquito net. I seem to be very attractive to mosquitoes, one gal noticed I had about 50 of them on my shirt sleeves trying to get at me, she even took a picture of it. My shirt weave was tight enough that the mosquitoes couldn’t bite through, I had long pants on, and a mosquito net, however I had been reluctant to put too much repellent on my hands so I was getting bit on them. Luckily I had picked up a sample while at the OR Show of a bug repellent called Bug Band based on Geraniums, it was effective, though it didn’t last long, and it was natural enough that I didn’t feel so squeamish about having it on the back of my hands while I ate. Fortunately for one of the other hikers, who was allergic to Deet and other repellents, I had an extra sample to give her. She was very happy with it. In regards to my hands, you might ask, why didn’t I just go without anything? Well, I mentioned the 50 bugs on my shirt, but I can tell you that it was worse than that. I think there’s only ever been one other time I’d seen so many mosquitoes, and that other time was also on a Sierra backpack trip. I will say a mosquito net works wonders, and hey, maybe we’ll start a fashion trend?

Cooking in camp

As the cooking went on, the smells around our chosen cooking area were exquisite. For appetizers we had Alaskan Smoked Salmon in Pasta Shells, Kale Pasta Salad with Greens (a vegan raw recipe by the way), Cherry Soup (it may sound a little odd but it was wonderful!), and Bruschetta with homegrown tomatoes and basil, the bread toasted to perfection. We even had a palette cleanser, a drink of honeydew melon and mint. I was full before the main dishes came out. We had: Korean Savory Pancakes with imitation crab meat, green onions and other vegetables with a pickled salad side, Beef Stroganoff, Red Potato salad with vegetables, Jalapeno Quesadillas, and Seared Ahi Tuna. After that we suspected that maybe one of the missing guys was supposed to bring dessert, but we still had Lavender Cake (and had eaten the Beet Cupcakes earlier in the day). Beverages included wines, a Guava and Limeade mixed juice drink, San Pelligrino sparkling water, my hot chocolate and Bailey’s offering and a mystery drink which turned out to be homemade honey mead! The cooking had started with the sun still up in the sky but the eating went on well after sunset. Even with a short break, I thought I was going to burst. I know many folks had brought more than enough to serve just two people,  and everything tasted so good, it was a shame for any to go to waste! Plus, everyone wanted to make room in their bear canisters 😉

The conversations at dinner were also satisfying, we had women from Southern and Northern California attending. One lady was also a long time climber so we talked about climbing for a while. Another gal was a self proclaimed peak bagger, having bagged 35 peaks prior to this trip as I found out later. She was currently living in Independence, after realizing her accounting business could be operated from there with only a little bit more difficulty than from the LA area. Mainly though the conversations were just about having some fun. At one point, realizing we had so much extra food, the group leader, wearing a chef’s hat by the way, decided to try and find a fellow camper to surprise them with quesadillas, we thought we had seen a tent earlier in our roaming. So we set out to find them. They must’ve moved on though, as we didn’t see anyone near by, even when we went up to a lookout point to look around us. Their loss though. Can you imagine the look on their faces if someone in a chef’s hat had came out of the woods and delivered, still hot, gourmet cheese and jalapeno quesadillas? I had my camera on video mode in case we found them.

I went to sleep that night, wondering if I was going to wake up to bears roaming near the cooking area.

After a bear free and fairly pleasant night’s sleep [on a sleeping pad I’m testing out by the way, review to come], I woke up early because I wanted to climb North Peak. It had been decided that I should make my breakfast item as a brunch item instead so we could get going to North Peak as early as possible. I think this decision was also made because everyone was so full that night, and we had so much left overs, that no one wanted to think about an early breakfast!  Some girls were still asleep but the leader was up as well as Stephanie, the lady who lived in Independence. We decided it would be best if those going to the peak officially sign out of the Sierra Club trip to tackle the summit on our own so that the Sierra Club would not be liable for us and thus an official leader would not have to go with us as they were needed to hike out with the rest of the group. In the end Stephanie, Su (who had woken up by the time we had decided all this), and I were the only ones going. We had an official errand to run though, add a new peak registry to the summit.

With Stephanie in the lead we went off quickly. She had not done this peak before but had the topo map of the area and had also been close to bagging nearby Mt. Conness so knew the general area at least. We were off trail and soon found there were quite a few little lakes between our campsite and the base of the North Peak. We made our way around these and around or through a few snow patches before finally starting our ascent.

At times we found part of use trails heading our way, however large snow patches on increasing inclines made us hesitate. We chose to traverse some of them carefully, but hiked completely around others. This added quite a bit of mileage to our approach. Our earlier estimate of two hours to the summit was more than fairly optimistic. There was so much snow that we found ourselves heading more towards Mt. Conness than North Peak, as a direct line up would’ve been straight into snow fields [which, for you ice climbers out there, I only just found out today apparently is an ice climb in the right conditions!]. As the going got steeper, looser, and included more bouldering moves, our pace slowed. At one point we came upon some guys on their way down wearing harnesses. They had been planning on going up to Mt. Conness but decided to turn back due to weather.

We had noticed more numerous, and darker clouds coming from the direction we were heading. To our right the sky still contained blue though. We decided to make for the saddle and see what we could see. The guys wished us well and we continued on. The saddle itself was a bit of a chimera, I thought I had seen the ridge from where we had talked to the guys, but we passed another duo of guys and yet another snow field before we actually got to it. Thankfully though, once there, we saw that blue sky was once again on the horizon. We pushed on. Finally we were at the actual ridge, we could see the broad saddle and ridge line. And unfortunately it seemed like a large bit of snow was on this ridge. We took a break and then Stephanie went up to investigate. She said it was doable to a small rock formation and then we could take the base of that on to drier ground and a clear, snowless last ascent to the peak. We carefully made our way across the sun cupped snow pack, at times following crampon tracks. After we all made it over, we discovered strong winds on the dry part. We huddled, sitting against a boulder, taking a drink of water, before the last push to the top, which, after we discovered a little trail, was looking to be the easiest part of the whole day’s worth of hiking. Stephanie was ahead of Su and I after we had made one additional stop so Su and I were the only ones to greet a lone guy descending from the trail, he had been the one with the crampons. He said he’d thought about doing the traverse to Mt. Conness but didn’t feel right with the winds and being solo. He wished us well though, and we were on our way again. We saw one more pair of guys before the top, but it was windy enough that Su and I just waved at them, not really stopping in our boulder hopping ascent.

At the top we found Stephanie, smiling but huddled near some rocks, the wind was not as fierce as below but still strong and cold enough that one didn’t really want to stay standing for long. Stephanie had added the registry to the tube on top and already signed it so Su and I added our names to the new registry as well. This is when I learned that Stephanie had done 35 other peaks, since she had written the number 36 under a mountain symbol next to her name in the registry and Su asked her what it meant. I also learned, after I named a few peaks I have been on, that I have done at least 4 qualifying peaks, so I put a 4 down next to my name as well.

Me with summit chocolate! Don't mind my hat, I had to squash it on to keep it from blowing away!

It was Su who reminded Stephanie about her summit chocolate. Stephanie had told us about it the other day, saying she kept special chocolate to eat as a reward for summiting. She gave us each a piece of course. It was an excellent and appropriate way to celebrate a peak summited during the Gourmet Backpack trip!

After some quick photos (I mentioned it was windy and cold up there, right?). We were really feeling the time crunch, as Su and I still had a long drive home. We had hoped that we could come down a more direct way from the summit, but Stephanie had talked to the two guys Su and I had just waved at and it turns out they were guides and did not suggest going down a more direct way, due to the snow. We ended up going back the way we had come, traversing the snow again on the ridgeline. We did end up traveling a bit on one plateau area following a use trail for a little while but soon realized it was heading towards a water fall which we had seen from a distance… which we knew to be surrounded by snow and cliffs on either side. So, we still had to go the long, round about way we had come in. Only towards the very end did we try to go more directly to our camp, sometimes down-climbing random stuff, which I double checked to make sure the others could come down as well (I was leading some of this part).

We finally made it to camp and hurriedly packed up, hoping against hope that we could still make the water taxi. But it was past five o’clock which seemed like the logical time for it to stop running. We saw the dock on the way out, no one was on or by it. Since we had come back a slightly different way, we had a bit of stream crossing to do, and sadly, we were not able to do it with dry shoes. So the last bit of the trip was a soggy hike back around the lake again.

The trip description originally mentioned stopping at Woah Nelly Deli on the way home (a natural for a gourmet trip right?), but it was really just too late for that for Su and I who faced a 7 hour drive, plus we weren’t really that hungry yet. We told Stephanie were just going to drive straight for Southern California, so said our goodbyes in the parking lot. It had certainly been a harder peak than we had thought it would be – and I’m sure is much easier (and shorter!) in warmer weather with less snow – but we had done it, and we had tasted the sweet chocolate victory of success.

Select Slideshow (click on an image to see it bigger in my gallery):

High Sierra, Photography, Trip Reports

7 Methods of Battling Stinky Climbing Shoes

Eileen Ringwald 25 Comments
Climbing Shoe Care
Mixing it up with older and newer climbing shoes (actually this climber had to do this when one of his shoes got a hole in them)

So one of my friends on Facebook (who shall remain nameless because I don’t think s/he’d want me to incriminate him/her) was asking about getting rid of climbing shoe funk. I started to reply and realized I was getting rather long winded and also realized others might want to read and share their own solutions so I made this post.

Dealing with or Preventing Climbing Shoe Stink

  1. The best solution I have found so far is to have multiple pairs of climbing shoes. This works in terms of not getting them too foul to begin with (rotation of shoes) and also… if one pair does get bad, I hang them up and forget I have them for about a year. Come back and they’re ok.
  2. Bag the shoes and put them in the freezer. This is one way to kill bacteria, it may or may not work depending on how bad the shoes are.
  3. Store dryer sheets in your climbing shoes. This solution isn’t so great as it just masks odors, also you don’t want the sheets to rub too much on the shoes as I hear it makes them feel slick. I’ve only done this briefly so didn’t notice it on my shoes, but just touching dryer sheets (and knowing that it can clog up wicking shirts) I can tell it probably would make ones shoes really slick.
  4. Baby powder on feet and in shoes before wear. A friend does this and it seems to work for him. I’ve tried a light sprinkling in my shoes but I don’t like it because it makes them a little slick inside, also it seems to me that it was most sanitary to then scrub out the baby powder after a session and that was just too much work.
  5. Wash your shoes. I’ve heard folks throw climbing shoes in the washing machine. Personally I’ve only ever tried to sponge clean my shoes. I’m too afraid of warping them to truly give them a dunking. I now own one pair of synthetic  shoes though so I might try it with those if they get really funky. I would not try it with leather at all.
  6. Wear socks with your shoes. I’ve only done this when I was renting shoes as a beginner or desperate to use a pair of shoes too big for me. Frankly, I just can’t feel the rock or feel secure in my shoes if I wear socks with them.
  7. Chemical solutions. I’ve heard tell of washes or sprays that can kill microbes (think bowling shoe sprays) but haven’t tried any myself, partly because, as mentioned above, I’m not too keen on completely immersing my shoes.

Have you tried any of the above methods? Have any to add? Post in the comments!

Gear

Adventure Photography Gear – Black Rapid RS-Sport R-Strap Review

Eileen Ringwald 1 Comment
RS-Sport R-Strap
RS-Sport R-Strap

If you’ve seen me outdoors, you’ve undoubtedly seen me with a camera in hand. Combining outdoor sports with photography is sometimes hard, but always rewarding.

One thing that makes it hard is handling and securing photography gear. When I first saw an R strap I was pretty excited, they are made by a company called Black Rapid as a more comfortable and quicker way to hang a camera on your person. If you’ve ever had a DSLR on your neck for any length of time, you’ll realize that the common neck strap just doesn’t cut it for very long, much less in situations where you may want to hike, scramble or otherwise move around quickly or unevenly.

The R-strap’s solution has you wear the camera in a sling position, thus putting the weight on a shoulder at all times, rather than on your neck. Black Rapid’s innovation is to couple this sling with a carabiner type device for fast attachment and a sliding system which lets you move from camera at rest position to shooter ready position without adjusting the sling… and not ever having your camera not secured to you.

The RS-Sport R-Strap version has the above conveniences plus a more comfortable strap and the addition of an under-arm safety tether, helping secure your camera during uneven ground situations as well.

I’ve been using my strap for months now and really love it. I actually feel free to move away from my camera bag while at the crag now that I don’t have to constantly think about where the camera will be (it’ll be on my person!). I’ve also used it while hanging from a rope set up to shoot climbers below as well, the strap is just the right size to feel secure but not be too bulky.

For your amusement, I’ve made a short video showing the strap, which is available via Amazon [affiliate link].

EDIT: For those with Point and Shoot sized cameras, Black Rapid also makes a neat strap/case combo, you can see that here[affiliate link].

Gear, General, Photography, Review, Shopping, Video

What is PlanetGear? Win a $30 Shopping Credit

Eileen Ringwald 7 Comments

PlanetGear

PlanetGear is another limited time, deep discount (up to 70% off), shopping site for outdoor folks. They operate on the membership model where you must be a member to join, but you can relax, membership simply means that you have created a free account with them.

According to their site they offer “gear, apparel, and travel destinations at prices up to 70% off on most leading outdoor brands. Sale events start daily at 8:00am PST and last up to 72 hours.”

I heard about PlanetGear because Tawnee Madlen and Veronique Markewitz (founder) emailed me. I checked their site out and noted that they seemed to have a female centric offering (at the time it was all female apparel/gear being featured). Now they have stuff for men, women and kids up.

I emailed them back and asked them when they had started since I hadn’t seen them around before, “We started on April 2nd [2011], because we didn’t want to be a joke and start on the 1st.”

I also learned their first sales were “Mountain hardware and Ski Utah (it was a backcountry expedition tour)” which supports their claim to offer travel as well as gear deals.

PlanetGear is also a member of 1% for the Planet and is working with IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) to raise money to preserve trails and IOWC. All good stuff in my book.

Lastly, the ladies also wanted to extend a prize to the Rockgrrl community, a $30 credit to use as you wish!

How to Enter:

Comment on what your favorite item is from any of PlanetGear’s currently offered sales.

Winner will be chosen by a random drawing.

You can comment on this post or on the Rockgrrl Facebook FanPage.

If you do both you’ll get two chances at winning.

You must comment by midnight, PST, Tuesday, May 17th. Winner will be notified on Wednesday, May 18th via email or Facebook messaging system so please be sure you fill that in on your commenting profile here.

You will need to have a free account to see the PlanetGear stuff.

You can use my invite link here. Disclosure: If you use my invite link you’ll get a $10 credit when you place your first order and I’ll also get a $10 credit at the same time.

You can also just sign up without an invite from their homepage.

Right now PlanetGear is featuring Kelty and Rossignol, but next week I hear they’ll have Sierra Designs and K-Swiss so I’m sure you’ll still be able to spend your credit on good gear if you win.

PlanetGear is also on Twitter and Facebook.

Now, go ahead and show me the gear you’d like to get and maybe you’ll get some credit to buy it!

Contests & Give-Aways, Gear, Shopping